Trott Enjoying SEC Media Days

Auburn tight end Tommy Trott talks about his experience at SEC Media Days.

Birmingham, Ala.—Auburn senior tight end Tommy Trott made the rounds at the Wynfrey Hotel on Friday morning going from one TV interview to another before spending 20 minutes with the print media.

"I haven't gotten anything off the wall," Trott said of the questions he's been asked. "I've been warned so many times. I heard that they asked Tim Tebow some pretty crazy questions yesterday. Luckily I've been able to dodge those. I haven't gotten anything too crazy. Really so far it's been enjoyable.

"When I heard that I was chosen by Auburn I was extremely honored and excited," he added of attending Media Days. "I thought it would be a great opportunity for me. I was really looking forward to coming, and it's definitely not been a letdown. It's been exciting. It's been a whole lot of fun."

Trott managed to go roughly 15 minutes with the print media before being asked the number one question people want to know. "Who's going to be the starting quarterback?"

"That's usually the first or second question in every room I've been in," he said. "What I tell every place that I've been so far is that they've all been performing so well this year. There has been nothing but great competition between them. You saw it all through the spring and even in the summer when there's not a single coach out there. They're just flat-out competing against each other and working real hard. I feel like competition is only going to make these guys better."

Asked how often he gets asked about the quarterback race between Neil Caudle, Kodi Burns, Chris Todd and recent additions Tyrik Rollison, Clint Moseley and Robert Cooper, Trott responded, "Everywhere I go. If anybody figures out that you're an Auburn football player, it's ‘How do you like Coach Chizik' and ‘Who's going to be the quarterback?' ‘Come on, tell me. You know.' They just start prying. I'm serious—everywhere you go you get that question. Not just with average fans.

"You'd be surprised," Trott continued. "Women ask you that question, grandparents, little kids. The way facebook and things are going, there's hardly a day I can log onto my facebook, which I honestly don't get on every day, but every time I log on I've got someone who has messaged me, ‘Who's going to be the starting quarterback.' It's just how it is. People in the South are passionate about football and want to know."

The only place that Gene Chizik has coached in the SEC as an assistant or head coach is Auburn. It didn't take long for the rest of the media around the league to figure out Chizik's mentality of dodging the spotlight and avoiding answering any question that could be remotely controversial.

Trott fielded questions about Chizik and his demeanor around the football complex.

"He's a no nonsense guy," Trott said. "He's a huge disciplinarian. One of the first things he did is install what they called ‘Kindergarten Rules.' No hats on in the building, pull your pants up, no earrings, yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am. Those are things that most everybody should already know. He's installed them and he's holding us to it. If he catches you with a hat on the building, he's not only getting onto you there but you're going to see Yox (strength and condition coach Kevin Yoxall) later on that week for it.

"He's fun to joke around too," Trott continued of Chizik. "He's all business on the field. He's out there and he's a hands-on coach. Not just the defense, but he even comes over when we're doing routes on air. He's not afraid to coach you up either. Off the field, yeah, he's fun. There are even times when I've seen him down there shooting a game of pool and guys are lined up trying to take down Coach Chiz."

Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn carries himself in a similar fashion as Chizik. Malzahn spent the 2006 season at the University of Arkansas, and Arkansas beat reporters asked Trott if the offensive coordinator was still all about football.

"He's obviously a very intelligent guy and I don't think he would mind me telling you this—he is a football nut," Trott responded. "He really is. He's a football junkie 24/7 and there is nothing going through his head but football.

"I really think there is nothing else that goes through his head other than football," he added. "That's what a good offensive coordinator these days."

While Chizik and Malzahn are tight lipped with the media and are so focused on football, Trott made a point to talk about the rest of the assistants, how much energy they have brought and how they have made football fun again.

The general feeling in Hoover from the media is that the hire of Chizik was somewhat of a head scratcher at the time, but after hearing Trott and defensive end Antonio Coleman talk about the staff that Chizik assembled the feeling is that the future of Auburn football is in good shape.